Improvement in sea-drags



N-PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER WASHINGTON n C lToul]v to whom -these presents shall come:

@anni dimite.

ASAMUEL CURTIS, or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 94,402, dated August 31, 1869.

'IMPRovEMENT nv SEA-Drums.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Be it known that I, SAMUEL CURTIS, of Lynn, in the county ot' Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have rade an invention of a new and useful device for use in navigable vessels, and which I term a Sea- Anchor-Dredge; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, due

reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view,l and Figure 2, a sectionalrepresentation of my invention.

The want of some etcieut, reliable, and ready means of keeping a navigable vessel head to wind in a heavy gale or storm, and when an ordinary anchor is not available, and when it is necessary or desirable to put a drag upon her progress as she is driving helpless before the wind and sea, out. of her course, at a rapidrate, has long been known and appreciated by sea-faxing men.

This invention is intended to provide a means for accomplishing the above-mentioned object, by producing a device which may be stowed away upon deck when not iu use, and when wanted, is to be attached to the cable or hawser, and thrown overboard, the device being of such form and material that when drawn upon by the vessels movements, it 'shall take a firm hold of the surrounding water, and be forced to keep under its surface some distance, by this means creating a powerful drag upon the vessels movements, to retard her progress. l

In the drawings before mentioned as accompanying this specification, and which illustrate my invention- A denotes a drag or mass of wood, composed of a number of pieces, connected together, and stayed andV strengthened by metallic straps a, a., Ste., and bolts, b' b, 85o., the central bolt c, having an eye, d, aixed to its outer extremity, for the purpose as hereinafter explained. l

The central bolt c is extended some distance vbeyond the Wooden mass or, block, and is provided with an eye or ring, c, to which a cable or hawser is to be attached, when the device is to be thrown overboard.

The b oltpasscs through the bottom of the drag and is there secured, and it is maintained and steadied in itsposition by means ot' the diagonal braces g, which at their outer ends are held -by the same bolts, b, which bind the straps a, whicln'like the braces, -radiate fro the centre ot' the drag.

The front end ofthe drag A is made concave or hollow, as shown at f, in order to take a firm hold upon the body of water in which it is submerged, and

is to be provided with sufficient metal to lcause it tol keep below the surface ofthe water, although its exterior form may be such as to produce that elect, as shown vin the drawing, the outer portion .of the raised part f being bevelled or made slanting for 'the purpose.

which is thereby secured, makes a strong arid eiicient drag, while the form of the device admirably adapts it to take firm hold of the water. The central bolt, to which the cable issecured, is 'thoroughly braced and sttiened, as above described, and its central position tends to hold the drag at all times in theproper place to o'er the greatest resistance to the motion of the vessel.

A drag made substantially as'before described, is to be stowed away upon the deck when `leaving portin such a situation as to be readily reached and thrown overboard, should contrary head-winds or a gale or storm prevent her from keeping her` course, the drag, as before observed, answering a valuable and import-ant purpose in retarding, to a great extent, the vessels motion, andin keeping lier head to wind.

It may, `in practice, be found desirable toreproduce the drag on a smallerscala and to carry a number of such .diminutive articles, -so that in case of emergency, one or more of their number may be connected to the eye d, of the main drag, and thrown overboard, and aid in deadening the vesse s motion.. l

My invention will be found valuable as a warp in hauling oit' a vessel, or taking her out of harbor.

In this case, one of the lesser drags will probably be found of suicient capacity to effect the object.

- It a vessel, in a gale or storm, is made to stand head to sea, the waves are divided, to a great extent, upon her bows, and pass by her, which would sweep her decks were she exposed broadside to the waves, and the force of the wind also has muchlesseffect upon her hull when head to wind. l v

The use of my invention retards the vessels motion, both by keeping her head to wind, and by its peculiar shape taking a powerful hold upon the water.

The drag, as I construct it, is alwaysready for use,

and may be brought into requisition much quicker thanta spar can be lashed and used. It has, also,

i vastly more hold upon the water to deaden' the ves"-` sels way than a spar, or other extempoiaueous means. What I claim, and desire to lsecure by Letters Pat- A sea-drag, composed of the wooden base and raisedi portion f, constructed and united together by a. sysf tem of metallic straps, radiating from the centre of The system of straps, in connection with the woodv 

